Discoloration of the teeth occurs widely in society, and is estimated to occur in two out of three adults. Dental discoloration is considered an aesthetic flaw or defect, and can have negative consequences in an affected person's life by causing self-consciousness, and even inhibiting smiling. Tooth discoloration can be particularly distressing or troublesome in situations and professions where showing clean and white teeth is essential.
A tooth is comprised of an inner dentin layer and an outer hard enamel layer that is slightly porous. The outer layer is the protective layer of the tooth. The natural color of the tooth is opaque to translucent white or slightly off-white. Staining of teeth arises as a result of exposure of compounds such as tannins and other polyphenolic compounds to the teeth. These compounds become entrapped or bound to the proteinaceous layer on the surface of the teeth, and can penetrate the enamel and even the dentin. On occasion, staining can arise from sources within the tooth, such as tetracycline, which may become deposited in the teeth if administered to an individual when young.
Surface staining can usually be removed by mechanical tooth cleaning. However, discolored enamel or dentin is not amenable to mechanical methods of tooth cleaning, and chemical methods, which can penetrate into the tooth structure, are required to remove the stains. The most effective treatments for dental discoloration are compositions containing an oxidizing agent, such as hydrogen peroxide, that is capable of reacting with the chromogen molecules responsible for the discoloration, and rendering them either colorless or water-soluble, or both.
Consequently, tooth whitening compositions generally fall into two categories: (1) gels, pastes, or liquids, including toothpastes that are mechanically agitated at the stained tooth surface in order to affect tooth stain removal through abrasive erosion of surface stains; and (2) gels, pastes, or liquids that accomplish a tooth-bleaching effect by a chemical process while in contact with the stained tooth surface for a specified period, after which the formulation is removed. In some cases, an auxiliary chemical process, which may be oxidative or enzymatic, supplements the mechanical process.
Some dental compositions such as dentrifices, toothpastes, gels, and powders contain active oxygen or hydrogen peroxide liberating bleaching agents. Such bleaching agents include peroxides, percarbonates and perborates of the alkali and alkaline earth metals or complex compounds containing hydrogen peroxide. Also, peroxide salts of the alkali or alkaline earth metals are known to be useful in whitening teeth.
Of the many peroxides available to the formulator of tooth whitening compositions, hydrogen peroxide (and its adducts or association complexes, such as carbamide peroxide and sodium percarbonate) has been used almost exclusively. The chemistry of hydrogen peroxide is well known, although the specific nature of its interactions with tooth chromogens is poorly understood. It is believed that hydrogen peroxide destroys tooth chromogens by oxidizing unsaturated carbon-carbon, carbon-oxygen, and carbon-nitrogen bonds found in the stain molecules, thus rendering them colorless or soluble.
A related class of compound, the peroxyacids, has been used in laundry detergents to effectively whiten clothes, due primarily to their stability in solution and their specific binding abilities to certain types of stain molecules. A number of stable, solid peroxyacids have been used, including diperoxydodecanoic acid and the magnesium salt of monoperoxyphthalic acid. Other peroxyacids, such as peroxyacetic acid, are available as solutions containing an equilibrium distribution of acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid and water. Alternatively, a peroxide donor such as sodium perborate or sodium percarbonate is formulated together with a peroxyacid precursor. Upon contact with water, the peroxide donor releases hydrogen peroxide which then reacts with the peroxyacid precursor to form the actual peroxyacid. Examples of peroxyacids created in situ include peroxyacetic acid (from hydrogen peroxide and tetraacetylethylenediamine) and peroxynonanoic acid (from hydrogen peroxide and nonanoyloxybenzene sulfonate).
Peroxyacids have also been used in oral care compositions to whiten stained teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,816 describes a method of whitening teeth comprising the application of a peroxyacetic acid-containing composition having an acid pH. EP 545,594 A1 describes the use of peroxyacetic acid in preparing a composition for whitening teeth. The peroxyacetic acid may be present in the composition, or alternatively, may be generated in situ by combining a peroxide source with a peroxyacetic acid precursor during use. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,375 describes a composition that generates peroxyacetic acid within a vehicle in situ by combining water, acetylsalicylic acid and a water-soluble alkali metal percarbonate.
The most commonly used dental whitening agent is carbamide peroxide (CO(NH2)2H2O2), also called urea hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide carbamide, and perhydrol-urea. Carbamide peroxide had been used by dental clinicians for several decades as an oral antiseptic, and tooth bleaching was an observed side effect of extended contact time. Over-the-counter compositions of 10% carbamide peroxide are available as GLY-OXIDE® by Marion Laboratories and PROXIGEL® by Reed and Camrick, which are low-viscosity compositions that must be held in a tray or similar container in order to provide contact with the teeth. A bleaching gel which is able to hold a comfortable-fitting dental tray in position for an extended time period is available under the trademark OPALESCENCE® from Ultradent Products, Inc. in South Jordan, Utah.
In order for such compositions to stay in place, the compositions must be a viscous liquid or a gel. The use of dental trays also requires that the tray be adapted for comfort and fit so that the tray will not exert pressure or cause irritation to the person's teeth or gums. Such whitening compositions necessarily should be formulated so as to be sufficiently sticky and viscous to resist dilution by saliva.
In one method of whitening an individual's teeth, a dental professional will construct a custom made dental bleaching tray for the patient from an impression made of the patient's dentition and prescribe the use of an oxidizing gel to be dispensed into the bleaching tray and worn intermittently for a period of from about 2 weeks to about 6 months, depending upon the severity of tooth staining. These oxidizing compositions, usually packaged in small plastic syringes or tubes, are dispensed directly by the patient into the custom-made tooth-bleaching tray, held in place in the mouth for contact times of greater than about 60 minutes, and sometimes as long as 8 to 12 hours. The slow rate of bleaching is in large part the consequence of the very nature of formulations that are developed to maintain stability of the oxidizing composition.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,576 to Jensen describes tooth whitening compositions that are preferably used with a tray so that the composition is held in position adjacent to the person's tooth surfaces to be treated. These compositions are described as a sticky matrix material formed by combining a sufficient quantity of a tackifying agent, such as carboxypolymethylene, with a solvent, such as glycerin, polyethylene glycol, or water.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,886 to Pellico describes a tooth whitening composition in the form of a gel composition containing carbamide peroxide dispersed in an anhydrous gelatinous carrier, which includes a polyol, a thickener, and xanthan gum.
Yet another example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,905 to Hernandez, which describes the use of compositions containing carbamide peroxide (0.3-60%), xylitol (0.5-50%), a potassium salt (0.001-10%) and a fluorine salt (0.15-3%), formulated into a gel that contains between 0.5 and 6% by weight of an appropriate gelling agent.
A tooth whitening composition that adheres to the teeth is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,989,569 and 6,045,811 to Dirksing. According to these patents, the gel contains 30-85% glycerin or polyethylene glycol, 10-22% urea/hydrogen peroxide complex, 0-12% carboxypolymethylene, 0-1% sodium hydroxide, 0-100% triethanolamine (TEA), 0-40% water, 0-1% flavor, 0-15% sodium citrate, and 0-5% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The preferred gel according to Dirksing has a viscosity between 200 and 1,000,000 cps at low shear rates (less than one 1/seconds), and is sufficiently adhesive so as to obviate the need for a tray.
Currently available tooth-bleaching compositions have a significant disadvantage in that they cause tooth sensitization in over 50% of patients. Tooth sensitivity may result from the movement of fluid through the dentinal tubules, which is sensed by nerve endings in the tooth, due to the presence of glycerin, propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol in these compositions. This can result in varying amounts of tooth sensitivity following exposure of the teeth to heat, cold, overly sweet substances, and other causative agents.
Prolonged exposure of teeth to bleaching compositions, as practiced at present, has a number of adverse effects in addition to that of tooth sensitivity. These adverse effects include leaching of calcium from the enamel layer at a pH less than 5.5; penetration of the intact enamel and dentin by the bleaching agents and risking damage to pulpal tissue; and dilution of the bleaching compositions with saliva resulting in leaching from the dental tray and subsequent ingestion by the user.
Some oxidizing compositions (generally having relatively high concentrations of oxidizers) are applied directly to the tooth surface of a patient in a dental office setting under the supervision of a dentist or dental hygienist. Theoretically, such tooth whitening strategies yield faster results and better overall patient satisfaction. However, due to the high concentration of oxidizing agents contained in these so called “in-office” compositions, they can be hazardous to the patient and practitioner alike if not handled with care. The patient's soft tissues (the gingiva, lips, and other mucosal surfaces) must first be isolated from potential exposure to the active oxidizing agent by the use of a perforated rubber sheet (known as a rubber dam), so that only the teeth protrude. Alternatively, the soft tissue may be isolated from the oxidizers to be used in the whitening process by covering the soft tissue with a polymerizable composition that is shaped to conform to the gingival contours and subsequently cured by exposure to a high intensity light source. Once the soft tissue has been isolated and protected, the practitioner may apply the oxidizing agent directly onto the stained tooth surfaces for a specified period of time or until a sufficient change in tooth color has occurred. Typical results obtained through the use of an in-office tooth whitener, range from about 2 to 3 shades (as measured with the VITA Shade Guide, VITA Zahnfarbik).
The range of tooth shades in the VITA Shade Guide varies from very light (B1) to very dark (C4). A total of 16 tooth shades constitute the entire range of colors between these two endpoints on a scale of brightness. Patient satisfaction with a tooth whitening procedure increases with the number of tooth shade changes achieved, with a generally accepted minimum change desirable of about 4 to 5 VITA shades.
It is desirable, with respect to dental care products for tooth whitening, to provide dental care products utilizing an adhesive hydrogel that includes a whitening agent for removing stains from an individual's teeth. Compositions are desired that do not require the use of dental trays to provide contact between the bleaching agent and the teeth. Such products ideally would cause minimal or no tooth sensitivity, would minimize or eliminate leakage of the whitening agent resulting in ingestion by the user or resulting in damage or irritation to the gums or mucous membranes of the mouth, would provide for longer wear duration, sustained dissolution of the tooth whitening agent, improved efficacy, and be well tolerated by patients. It would also be desirable to provide a tooth whitening dental care product that is a solid composition and self-adhesive but which does not stick to the fingers of the user, or that is a non-solid (e.g., liquid or gel) and which forms a film when dry. The instant invention addresses these needs.